#UK PragmatIC takes funding to £50 million

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Cambridge flexible electronics business PragmatIC has raised an additional £13 million for further global scale-up and appointed former CMR Surgical chair Erik Langaker to a similar role. 

Langaker is also investing in the round as PragmatIC builds towards its vision of a trillion connected circuits.

CEO Scott White told Business Weekly: “I can’t disclose the specific investors but it is from global backers and is our fourth institutional round. In total we have raised around £50m.

“The funding is primarily focused on scaling production and ramping sales both in RFID and beyond via our FlexIC Foundry.”

White also revealed that global headcount had now reached some 90 staff of which around 40 are based in Cambridge UK.

Regarding the new, high profile chairman, White added: “Erik brings us valuable experience alongside market-relevant knowledge at a pivotal time as we scale the business towards our vision of a trillion flexible integrated circuits.”

Langaker is independent chair and complements a strong existing board of directors. 

He has an extensive background of developing and commercialising technology businesses with 30 years’ international experience in private equity and entrepreneurial ventures. 

He has been an active investor and chair or board director in 25 companies. Many are in complementary sectors to PragmatIC, such as his current chair position at Kezzler AS whose patented item-level serialisation technology helps brands combat counterfeit goods, eliminate unauthorised distribution, and improve consumer engagement. 

As chair of CMR Surgical he helped raise more than £250m, leading the business to an increase in valuation from £30m to well over £1 billion and unicorn status – while the number of employees increased from around 40 to nearly 500. 

He brings extensive experience in chairing public companies, most recently as chair of European R & D engineering company Data Respons ASA which was sold to AKKA Technologies SE.

Langaker said: “I am honoured to join PragmatIC and its talented team of innovators at such an exciting time as they are poised to disrupt the electronics industry as well as the supply side of many consumer goods industries.

“With an increasing focus on and need for a circular economy and transparent supply chains, PragmatIC is ‘just in time’ in bringing a cost effective and highly scalable solution to the market.

“Opportunities in RFID alone have the potential to exceed a trillion units, and I can see immediate possibilities across healthcare, logistics and retail just from within my own network of contacts.”

from Business Weekly https://ift.tt/2R9N2Ri

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